Till the Sun Grows Cold
by WeasleyLover871
Summary: This is the story of how James Potter ended up "deflating his head" and how a certain Lily Evans found herself falling in love for the first time. But not without a few struggles on the way. A James and Lily love story. A few things don't follow canon
1. Enter Classmates

**Read before continuing: This is a warning to readers. I've edited this chapter to hold a review someone had left for me once I put it up. This person's views state that they do not like where this story is going, and if you agree then I'm warning you not to continue. I don't want anyone else wasting their time if they won't enjoy my story of Lily, James, The Maraurders and my OC's final year at Hogwarts.**

"You clearly haven't read a lot of Lily/James fanfiction. If you had, then you would know that a plethora of OCs are extremely annoying. No-one cares that they exist, and certainly no-one wants thier characters to be explored. I mean, each moment you spend trying to give an OC depth, the less time you're giving to Lily and James - which is what your readers want to read, no? I mean, I clicked on this story wanted to read about Lily and James, not to read about a whole bunch of OCs which I don't care for.

Generally, readers will be more responsive if Lily's friends are canon charcters mentioned in the books (e.g. Mary MacDonald, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadowes, Hestia Jones, Emmeline Vance, Amelia Bones...); then, no-one will have as much of a problem with the characters - and no-one can call them Mary-Sues. So my advice: change some of the characters' names to canon characters. Literally, all you're doing is changing their names; we don't know anything at all about what Mary, Marlene or Dorcas were like, so you won't have to change anything about their characters but their names.

Um... also, just thought I'd mention, in case you don't already know, that a lot readers despise Sirius ending up with Lily's OC best friend. It's just about the most annoying thing in the L/J fandom. Some of your readers won't mind, but I guarantee you that the majority will hate it. Furthermore, I was inclined to click away as soon as I saw a million unfamiliar names pop up; it's perfectly likely that a lot of readers won't bother reading when it becomes obvious that this story focuses heavily on OCs. I would urge you to a) change the OC names to something more canon and b) keep the story an L/J story. Side characters should only help the story along; they shouldn't be the driving force.

Furthermore, I'd like to ask if you plan on mentioning Snape? After all, he was a pretty big part of Lily's life throughout her first five years of Hogwarts."

**Sorry if anyone decides that this isn't the fic for them. Thank you for your time either way (and btw, I'm not keeping to canon with Snape being inlove with Lily)**

Till the Sun Grows Cold

Chapter 1: Enter Classmates

Every year is a mirror image of the one before. There are always three significant things you can look for, no matter what generation. First years nervous to leave there parent's loving embrace, but excited for the adventure laid before them. Third and Fourth years, returning anew. Puberty had treated them well over the summer, and their classmates sure do notice. And the Seventh years. They hold a different air of themselves. It's do or die, and they know it. This final year at school will determine their future in many different ways, depending on your priorities.

Lily Carina Evans always had very mature and realistic priorities. She didn't reach for fame and fortune within the school, nor love in unexpected places. She strived to do the absolute best she could achieve academically, and hoped that would determine her future to be prosperous and exactly what she wanted. But over the summer, she realized she wanted quite a bit more.

"This is the last time I get to send my little sis off to the safe confides of her school, before she comes out and lives in the cruel and damaging real world." Cassius Evans looked down at his little sister and ruffled her hair before she swat his hand away and gave him a sheepish grin. Lily was average height for a girl, with strikingly beautiful green eyes and very bright, straight red hair. Her skin was fair and her shape was thin. In all accounts, she should have been more awkward, but luckily, Lily Evans was stunning.

"Trust me Cass, Hogwarts is much more damaging then you may want to believe." She joked with him but saw his face dawn in horror.

Cassius looked definitely different from his sister. The only similar quality was their fair skin and slender frame. He was always told that he got his hair from his father, which was a dirty blonde, as well as his brown eyes. He was 23 and a well accomplished Auror for his age. He had been taking care of Lily since their parents got in a car crash and passed away when she was 8 and he was 14. They were sent to an orphanage, but by the time he was 17, he got them out of there and got a two bedroom flat in central London with the inheritance he made sure to save. He took care of Lily like no other person could or ever would. They were the closest a brother and sister could be.

And with that, came brotherly instincts to protect and shelter his little sister.

"You better not be insinuating anything to do with the opposite sex." Cassius gave her a very stern look, clearly stating that if there was any kind of 'funny business' (as he liked to call it) he would find out and put an immediate end to it. "You're young and beautiful, therefore vulnerable."

Lily heard a boisterous laugh come from behind her brother and noticed a man around his age, and a young woman with them. Estelle Mira Veradis. Lily Evan's best friend since first year.

"Cass, simmer down. She's already of age; you can't keep beating the boys away with your wand anymore." The tall and muscular man spoke up. His name was Rylie Veradis, Cassius's best friend and partner. They had been Aurors together for almost three years. Rylie was a few years older than Cassius. He gave his friend the finger before continuing to lecture Lily.

"Don't bother listening to that brute, if he knew how many guys Elle was with—"

"Ex-cuse me?" Rylie turned his head sharply in his sister's direction before giving her a swat on the back of the head.

"That was totally unnecessary Cassius." Lily muttered to her brother, but giggled quietly so as Estelle wouldn't notice.

"Ouch!" She cried in outrage. "What the hell was that for?" She glared at him before realizing to glare at Cass instead.

"You are lucky Mom and Dad weren't here to hear that little comment. Where the hell is Lupin?" He yelled frustratingly before storming off to go find whoever he was looking for.

"You jackass! You know how he gets." Elle punched Cass in the arm before going to stand beside Lily. Estelle was shorter than Lily, but still average height. She had blonde hair and green eyes, with a touch of blue in them. She was built more curvy than Lily, with wider hips and a larger chest. Something boys liked, and her brother knew it. She was loud and opinionated, mostly because of her upbringing with three brothers.

Cassius laughed before winking at his sister and turning his attention back to the fuming blonde. "Where's Leon." He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I was hoping to at least see Leo before he heads off to Ireland."

Estelle rolled her eyes before answering the older boy's question. "He left a week early. The band got some gig they had been pining after for like four months. Some festival. He promised to send me photos and a recording of my favourite songs." Cass looked disappointed at the news, but then smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

"Well isn't that exciting. I bet you he's firing all his best pick up lines at those little Irish gals. I should visit." He winked before he noticed another boy, now Lily's age, walking up to the three of them.

"Aiden!" Lily smiled and called out his name before giving him a rather tight hug.

Cass scowled and the close contact before greeting the boy. "There's the missing sock to the pair! You need to keep this one in check. She's got a mouth on her." Aiden laughed and gave Cass a handshake before turning to his twin, Elle.

"Oh I heard across the platform." Elle tried to now give her brother a punch on the arm, but he dodged and chuckled. "Besides, you'd think being her other half would hold some weight." He rolled his eyes. "But I guess not." He finished before trying to give his sister a big wet kiss on the cheek. Elle began to attack him. While all this was going on, Lily heard the warning whistle from the train.

Lily laughed before going up to her own brother and giving him a kiss and a hug goodbye.

"I promise Cass, I won't do anything you wouldn't do." She winked, knowing he was a little promiscuous during his time at Hogwarts. She saw his eyes widen and fear and gave him a knowing look, promising she would be good. They hugged again before departing. "Veradis!" She yelled getting both of the twins' attention.

They both knew what that look meant, and they gave each other one more glare before getting on either side of Lily and beginning to walk to their compartment. But then Lily remembered something.

"Oh bloody hell, Estelle?" She looked up in confusion. "Wasn't your brother going to look for Remus?" She asked nervously. Realization dawned on Elle's face, so she gave them a quick goodbye and went to go save her friend from murder.

"Save me a seat!" She called behind her.

Aiden and Lily continued to board the train, making small talk on the way.

"So how excited are you to rule the school this year?" Aiden smiled widely at Lily, bringing up the subject he knew she wanted to talk about.

"You have no idea. I've been working for this since I first heard about the position!" She exclaimed. "Do you know who Head Boy is by any chance?" Lily asked, thinking maybe Elle would know if Remus got the position.

Aiden looked nervous and played with the ring on his right hand, out of habit.

"Aiden?" Lily asked cautiously. She could tell when he was neglecting to tell her something. He was a very bad liar. "Do you know who I'm working with this year?"

He muttered something inaudible.

"Aiden…" Lily's voice grew a little more commanding and he knew that it would only anger her more to withdraw information from her about the most important subject to her this year.

"James Potter."

Lily let out a very exasperated groan before opening the door to the usual compartment and burying her face in her hands.

"Lils? What's up?" A female voice asked from one of the seats by the window.

Her name was Nessa Sloane. She was also a seventh year, and the final member to Lily's group of best friends. She was tall, olive skin toned and thin. Her hair was very curly and stark black, while her eyes were a deep blue. She was wearing one of her trademark bows in her hair. Nessa had no siblings, unlike everyone else in the group, and two loving muggle parents. She was obsessed with muggle art and literature, and was a little bit of a hipster.

Aiden slid down in the seat across from Nessa and Lily sat down beside her girl friend.

"Aiden just informed me that James Potter is Head Boy." Nessa looked shocked before she began to laugh.

"Oh the irony is tangible!" She got out between chuckles. Aiden tried to suppress his laughter, but not all to well.

"Oh hardy har har guys. The guy has been torturing me since second year when I said 'no' to go out on a date with him. The little bugger." She said frustrated, but admitted defeat and began laughing too. The irony was too good to ignore.

Suddenly, Elle whipped open the door, holding a very terrified Remus. They all looked up and gasped.

"I'm ok-kay." He stuttered before slamming himself down onto one of the open seats. Before he got more than two seconds rest, Elle pulled him straight back up again.

"Nope you have responsibilities Prefect!" She gave him a teasing glare before turning her attention to Lily. "And so do you Head Girl. You've got five minutes to be at the front compartment to begin the Prefect meeting."

Lily nodded and stood up. Elle passed Remus along to Lily before greeting Ness and sitting down beside her.

"What happened to him?" Aiden inquired.

Xoxoxoxox

"What happened to you Remus?" Lily questioned as they began to walk to the first compartment at the front of the train.

He looked at Lily with fearful eyes before trying to smile.

"I'm going to die over the summer. Or Christmas break. Or anytime Rylie can get to me." He informed her. Lily laughed hard.

"Oh he got to you didn't he."

Remus and Estelle had been neighbours and friends since she was three years old; therefore, they were practically family. Rylie had found it much less nerve wrecking with his sister at Hogwarts when she had Remus looking out for her. Obviously, he had thought Remus was not doing a good job since an informant let him know of her dating history.

"He told me, if he found out his little sister wasn't a virgin anymore, he was going to practice the Aurors new secret methods of torture on the Death Eaters… on me." Remus shuddered at the thought. "Plus, he smacked my head and gave me a wedgie." He finished, pouting.

Lily tried to suppress a giggle. "He still does that eh."

Remus nodded sadly before noticing Lily's face breaking into a wide smile and her laugher trying to escape her lips. That's when he broke into hysterics. Lily laughed along with him for a little, before worrying for his sanity.

Once he choked out his last few chuckles, he gave her a sheepish grin.

"I was just admiring the irony of it all. If Rylie ever found out that I dated his sister for a brief time, I think he'd castrate me instead." Lily's eyes widened.

"When did you and Elle date?" She stopped, in awe of this secret she was never aware of.

"Oh awhile back. Summer of fifth year. It didn't work out. We realized we were too close as friends. But that's not to say, we were completely innocent the whole time."

If possible, Lily's eyes widened even more. She shook her heard, dumbfounded, but found her feet and continued to walk on.

"I'm grilling her about the details later. You know that right." She stated, more than asked.

"Oh I know. And she'll kill me." Remus laughed heartily before putting a finger to his lips, "Just don't tell the twin." Lily nodded her head, still in shock, and opened the compartment door.

Luckily, she wasn't the last one to arrive. Yet, James was still there, before her, and looking rather impatient.

"Evans." He greeted, trying to not get annoyed with her tardiness. "Moony!" He noticed the form coming from behind Lily.

"Where were you? We looked all over the platform for you!" James asked suddenly, ignoring Lily's confusion at while she got such a hostile welcome.

"It's a long story. Let's just say, Rylie found out about Elle's love life." Remus sat beside his best friend, and gave a greeting to the other Prefects sitting in the room. "That's why Lily is late; she had to come save me." He added, since he could tell James was annoyed that the perfect ex-prefect almost left him hanging when he had no idea what he was doing.

James looked up at Lily and gave her a half smile. "So Evans, you saved poor Remus here." He put his arm around his friend. "And even though that is a pretty good excuse, I think I may have to deduct points."

"From your own house Potter?" She rolled her eyes and glared at him. "I can just put them back on later."

"Abusing privileges! Lily Evans! I heard you changed a bit over the summer, but that's going a little rogue don't you think?" Lily looked at him and tried to hide her shock. She sometimes hated having a best friend, who had a best friend, who was best friends with a bloody shite.

Lily had a history of being an uptight bookworm. Even though her best friends knew this wasn't as true as the people at Hogwarts were sure to believe, she was still sick of her reputation. Yet, it wasn't like she wanted to become some sex kitten that failed out of all her classes. She just wanted people to know she could have fun, and enjoy life without cramming for tests and doing extra credit all the time.

But she didn't want Potter to know she was so insecure about her prior reputation.

"I haven't changed Potter. You just never spent the time knowing me." He opened his mouth in retaliation. "And no, sticking frogs down the back of my robes is not considered 'quality time' in my books."

Remus suppressed a laugh and James put on a face of mock hurt.

"I never!" He exclaimed, trying to act as innocent as possible in front of the Prefects. "That would be setting a horrid example for our younger classmen."

The final few Prefects began to file in, so Lily gave him her patented eye roll, and sat down to begin the meeting.

Xoxoxoxox

After the meeting was settled, Lily stood up to go join her friends in their compartment, knowing who she was most likely going to find in there, and who was going to follow her.

Since fourth year, the Marauders would sit with her and her friends on the way to Hogwarts. She didn't mind this, per se. But it was well known, that hanging out with the Marauders for elongated periods of time, in small spaces, could result in chaos and ultimately, a very exhausting train ride.

The Marauders consisted of four seventh year boys. First, there was James Potter. He was tall and lean muscled, with black untamable hair and hazel eyes. He also had a set of glasses perched upon his nose. Lily knew these glasses very well, since she began calling him four eyes in their second year. He didn't like that much. He liked women though, and made sure most of the females in his year knew this, in many different and adventurous ways. He was also a Quidditch star and was in the top ten of their year for marks. So you could easily debate that James Potter was the poster child for perfection.

Yet, Lily could easily argue the opposing opinion.

Secondly, there was Sirius Black. He was more muscular than James, and a bit shorter. He had dark hair and light blue eyes. He was one of the lucky people who had perfectly sculpted features, where nothing stood out as not proportional or out of place. He was also in the top marks of the school, yet wasn't exactly a good representation of studious. He just had a natural knack for being a wizard. This bag of tricks helped him become the greatest womanizer known to Hogwarts. Once you go Black…

Then there was Remus Lupin. He was as tall as James, with shaggy dirty blonde hair and a bit of tame facial hair. His eyes were a light brown, and his build was slim but fit. Even though he had quite a few girlfriends in the past, it was well known that Remus was a gentleman and treated women with respect. But he still was no saint, and he commonly would partake in the rebellious nature of his friends and play a blind eye even though he was a Prefect. He was also extremely intelligent and made up for what his friends lacked in common sense.

And finally, there was Peter Pettigrew. He was a little chubbier than the rest of them, and a good deal shorter. He had brown hair and dark brown eyes, but he had a constant smile on his face. He had no real outlandish character traits that made him memorable, but he was a loyal friend and followed the other three boys anywhere. Peter was good spirited but easily impressionable. He could also have quite the sense of humour in the right situation.

The Marauders prided themselves in their pranking skills and many rebellious adventures. Lily would have guessed that they knew the school better than any other student who ever attended, and probably the majority of the staff. They could become very exasperating for someone who was expected to uphold the rules and laws of the school (a.k.a. Lily Evans), but when it came down to it, they were all good hearted and fun people to hang about. Lily even believed this about James.

She just found him to be annoying… most of the time.

Once she opened her compartment she noticed two of the Marauders sitting beside Aiden, while Elle and Ness sat across from them. Lily went to go sit beside her girl friends. Once she got seated, she noticed James and Remus enter. James sat beside Sirius across from Lily, and Remus scooted himself between Elle and Lily.

"Excuse me?" Lily chimed in, giving Remus a little shove for squeezing between her and her best friend.

"Hey, you can't blame a guy for trying to get between two beautiful women like yourselves." He said, grabbing both of their hands and pretending to kiss them.

"Moony, be careful. What will Rylie and Cass think?" James piped up. He had been filled in on the previous situation when they left the meeting. Remus smiled coyly and placed both of the girls' hands carefully back down on their laps, before placing his own very firmly on his own. Everyone laughed at his obvious discomfort.

"Remus, I never knew you to be so smooth. Maybe I'm rubbing off on you?" Sirius interjected, kicking his friend lightly with his foot and winking at Estelle. She stuck her tongue out at Sirius and jokingly blew him a fake raspberry.

"I don't think you should rub anywhere Padfoot. Especially my leg. You are uncomfortably close to me right now." Peter gave Sirius a look of mock disgust before scooting closer to Aiden.

James laughed as he noticed the look on Peter's face when Sirius began to move his hand towards his face to stroke it softly. Everyone else looked in shock.

"Ew…" Lily muttered, gaining Sirius's attention. He pulled his hand back to his lap and pretended to look bashful before winking at Lily as well and blowing a kiss to all three of the girls. James gave his best friend a high five.

"Remus, how did you manage to get stuck with these two?" Elle elbowed her friend and whispered.

Both of the boys looked up. James feigned hurt while Sirius still continued to wink and give suggestive eye wiggles towards Elle.

"I've told you this story a million times Elle." Remus whispered hastily. "I found them in a box at my doorstep with a note explaining the brain damage."

"Lupin! Where does your loyalty lie?" James asked incredulously. "Are you not a Marauder?"

"I may be apart of the elite group that encompasses women, pranks and firewhiskey…" Remus began, before signaling to Elle. "But I used to bathe with this girl. We have a history." Everyone laughed again, except Sirius.

"You lucky bastard." Sirius muttered, before getting smacked on the back of the head by Aiden. "What the fuck—"

He looked at Aiden's face, obviously annoyed by the comments about his sister.

"I may not be as crazy as Rylie, but if you keep hitting on my sister in front of me, I will take a page out of his book." Aiden dangerously uttered, glaring at Sirius. He noticed the malice in his voice and shrunk into his seat, but not without giving Elle one last wink.

James struggled to change the topic before Aiden murdered his best friend. "Evans!" He said quickly, trying to get everyone's attention. "Why don't you tell me again how the whole 'nightly rounds' thing goes?"

Lily looked up at James in confusion, but noticed his feverous shifting eyes looking back and forth from Aiden. She got the hint and helped try to diffuse the situation. "Oh Potter, don't you listen at all." And Lily began a long rant about hourly shifts, and proper etiquette, as well as partnership. She began to explain a list of pro's and con's of changing up your route before someone cried out in frustration.

"I swear to Merlin, I will not kill Black if you please change the subject!"

Everyone looked over to Aiden in shock before breaking out into laugher again.

**I hope everyone liked what I have so far. And I hope you enjoy all of my various OC's… I want to make sure they have some kind of depth. If I get reviews I promise to have another chapter up by tonight 3**


	2. Reflection of Myself

**Important: I also forgot to let you know in the last chapter that some of this is a ways away from canon. Lily has an older brother (Petunia Is still there somewhere) and Snape never befriended Lily. Just wanted to warn you guys of the obvious confusion when I wrote about it.**

Disclaimer: I forgot this last time, but I'll do it now, and only now. I don't own anything. Everything is from the wonderful mind of J.K. Rowling besides the characters: Estelle, Aiden, Nessa, Cassius, Rylie, Leon and possibly some others if I feel like it.

Reflection of Myself

There are a few things that James Potter was sure of in his life.

First, he was sure that he was blessed. He had a wonderful family, and even though he was an only child, he had cousins galore and two wonderful parents who adored him greatly. He also was sure that he had the best friends in the world, in which one was like an adopted brother who lived with him. Yes. Sirius, Remus and Peter made James life worth living.

Secondly, he was going to become an Auror, just like his father and his father before him. James knew that the most important characteristics in a man were bravery and strength. But not necessarily strength of the superficial kind, but the strength to ignore selfish wants and desires to provide for a family like his father does.

Which leads into his third thing he was sure of. He wanted a family. A rebellious young son he could coerce into pranking his mother, a darling young daughter that would break his heart every time he looked into her eyes, and a beautiful red headed wife with emerald eyes and a laugh that lit up the sun.

He was really going to have to work for his last wish.

Xoxoxoxoxox

The train ride had continued as usual, with Sirius's insistent flirting and the rest of the Marauders attempting to subdue it (some trying less hard than others). But once they reached the castle's 'welcome back' feast, attentions were drawn to more serious preoccupants.

"Sirius, you dog." Sirius looked up, eyes flashing back from his friends in confusion. Ness looked at Sirius with suspicion but continued what she was saying, "Did your mother never teach you to swallow before shoving more food in your mouth?"

Sirius, relieved that his secret was still save, gulped down his food with a swig of pumpkin juice, opened his mouth wide to show that it was empty, and then shoved a very large spoonful of mashed potatoes into it. Ness scooted a little farther down the table away from him in disgust as Sirius smirked at her triumphantly. Lily groaned at the poor show of table etiquette.

"Mph.." Sirius intelligently executed, with a mouthful of spuds, before he swallowed. "I mean… if you don't like the way I eat, than don't sit with us."

"I happen to like their company. Elle was away on vacation all summer." Remus injected.

"I like them here too." Peter added.

"And I enjoy making Evans uncomfortable." James chuckled.

"Well thanks guys, for mentioning how much you enjoyed my company." Nessa looked crestfallen, but took in all in good humour.

"Well, I can show you how much I can enjoy your company by—"

"BLACK!" All three of the girls yelled in unison before he could continue with his perverted rant. Students turned there heads to try and notice what all the commotion was, but surely got disinterested when the girls calmed down and didn't yell another word.

"Okay…" Aiden muttered after that was over. "How about we change the subject of Black and his… habits."

"That's a nice that thing to call his womanizing." Lily scoffed. Aiden smiled warmly at her and shrugged his shoulders, showing his agreement with her statement.

"Don't worry, he's been like this his whole life. The doctors said there's some problem with the connection to his brain—" Remus added to Lily and Aiden, feigning to be discrete.

James lowered his head down into the circle and added, "Yah, we asked them if there was any way to fix it, but the doc said it was a lost cause."

Sirius sat with his arms crossed to his chest muttering something about 'best friends' and 'my ass.'

Peter took the hint and joined the conversation. "Psst…" Everyone looked at him, waiting for the continuation of his story, "Sirius is an idiot." Peter finished simply. Everyone laughed, until he suddenly Peter and James both had fallen back on their chairs. Sirius grinned with satisfaction, obviously the culprit of his friends' misfortune.

"Thank Merlin I sat on this side of the table." Remus added a little nervously.

"Oh don't think I don't have something in store for you Mr. Smartypants." Sirius whispered coyly, taking the previous posture of his head down and in the middle of the table, pretending to address a circle of friends around him.

"Oh no… now he's talking to his imaginary friends again." James muttered as he pulled himself up onto his chair. He quickly shut up after Sirius gave him a deathly glare. "I mean, Remus… you arsehole."

"Language!" Lily insisted, trying to suppress a giggle. "You're Head Boy… set an example."

"What about bloody eejit." Elle tried.

"Or a daft git." Nessa offered.

"Ooo, how about blooming pikey."

Everyone looked at Aiden in amusement, "I heard my brother call someone it when he was drunk once." He shrugged and everyone broke out in laughter again.

xoxoxoxoxox

After a long and entertaining dinner, Lily and James had to say goodbye to their friends and make off to the headmaster's office. Dumbledore was waiting patiently, with his hand in a bowl of lemon drops, as he contemplated the best one to choose.

"I hope you two had a wonderful holiday and an equally good arrival back to Hogwarts so far." Dumbledore greeted the pair as they walked into his office and took their seats in front of his desk. They both nodded politely.

"Well then, I hope you both are excited for your final year here at Hogwarts. And this year you will be making a difference as newly appointed Heads of the school." He continued his speech and offered the bowl of candy to both Lily and James. Both shook their head kindly.

"There are many benefits of being a Head of the school. You get to have more control over school functions, you feel more apart of the system, and…" he winked, "you can leave class early for meetings sometimes." James laughed. "But when all is said and done, this is a position of authority and responsibility, thus you must act accordingly." Dumbledore finished seriously.

The next thirty minutes consisted of restrictions and obligations both James and Lily had to understand and partake in, to keep their position and not become demoted. James became rather nervous at the amount of responsibility that he was being handed, and felt his confidence slowly slipping with each passing minute.

Scheduling the weekly meetings, dealing with paperwork, assembling school functions and holiday decorations, dealing with nightly rounds and inter house relations. He was expected to do all this while balancing a N.E.W.T level work load and maintaining an O average if he was planning to begin a career as an Auror. And to top it all off, McGonagall had let him know at the feast that he was Quidditch Captain. At the time he was ecstatic, thinking that this year was going to be the best of them all. But now, he was thinking that early morning practices, working out plays, and tryouts for this year were going to absolutely not happen.

And then there were his friends.

This year was going to be terrible.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

By the end of the meeting, both Lily and James stood up to join Dumbledore in walking them out through the gargoyle staircase, but surprisingly, he continued to walk along side with them. Before long, Lily began to grow more curious, so she decided, against her better judgment, to question the Headmaster.

"Sir?" She noticed his curt nod signaling to continue. "I don't think we are going the right way, the Gryffindor common room—"

"We aren't going there." James interrupted Lily before she could finish her statement. Dumbledore smiled slyly before glancing down at James.

"Well Mr. Potter, I see there are no secrets for you at Hogwarts. Even if some are only for certain people in which you are not… well not in previous years." Dumbledore added with a chuckle. Lily just continued to look on confused.

James laughed lightly before giving Lily a humoured look and opened his mouth to explain.

"We have a different commons room and dorm rooms. Normally, the students aren't supposed to know where it is since it is for the Heads of the school. It's like the Room of Requirement. People know of its existence, but are not allowed to know of where it is hidden." James finished.

"Room of Requirement?" Lily questioned. "And how would you know where it is then?" She added before he had time to answer her first question.

James looked at Dumbledore nervously before lowering his voice and whispering to Lily.

"I sort of dated one of the Heads last year."

"Sort of dated. What does that mean?" She asked, in a rather louder voice then he did. She raised her eyebrows at him and gave him a smirk as she noticed Dumbledore look down sideways at them. James became interested with his fingernails at this point.

"Well… I trust Mr. Potter knows that his 'sort of' girlfriends will enjoy many other areas of the castle and its grounds." Dumbledore spoke, not shifting his body language or eyes at all. "Back when I was a young boy, I quite enjoyed taking a romantic interest to sit beside the Black Lake during the warmer days, with some pumpkin juice and Sheppard's pie."

Lily didn't bother trying to hide her smile while James began a coughing fit and Dumbledore's eyes looked to sparkle a little more then before.

After a few more minutes of walking, everyone came to a halt behind an antique looking painting, with two small children, who looked around eight, petting a very large cat. One was a boy and the other, a girl. They were smiling graciously at the Headmaster, while giggling and whispering quietly to each other.

"These are the new Heads this year Albus?" The youngest looking one asked. Lily was put off by the use of the Headmaster's first name by such young children. She realized though, that this may be the oldest looking painting in the castle. Therefore she shouldn't judge their age by a painting of their former selves.

"Oh dear me. What made you choose Potter?" The boy spoke up now. The girl began to giggle and blush in James' direction. It was quite disturbing to say the least. "Oh I know: you have your reasons. One day Albus, I'm going to shake that brain out of you to try and dissect you manner of thought."

"Be careful Jovan, you should be a little more like Elwyn and accept what you cannot control. To waste time pondering something not worth pondering is wasting time better spent on other things." The boy, Jovan, scoffed at Dumbledore's comment, obviously thinking there was nothing else that was 'better' to do.

"Come on Jo; let's just get on with it. No matter how many times you try, you'll never understand him." His girl counterpart, Elwyn, injected.

"I miss Dippit." Jo mumbled before reaching behind back and pulling out a small piece of parchment. Suddenly, as be begun to then reach forward, his hand began to leave the painting and stopped in front of Lily. She gasped in shock with her eyes glued to the, now quite three dimensional, eight year old hand in front of her chest. "Come on child, take it." Jo added in irritation, snapping Lily out of her trance.

She snatched the parchment from his hand, and as soon as she had done this, it retreated back into the painting.

"Once you read it, hand it over to your partner. This is your password, and only you will know it. You cannot tell it to anyone, even after your year is over here." The young girl began, looking over to James when she explained the rules.

"Yah, try all you want. It has been the same password since the school had opened, in the 9th or 10th century. You won't be able to let the secret out." Jovan added smugly.

Lily looked down at the paper and quickly read the phrase a few times in her head to make sure she got it down right, before handing it over to James.

_Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus, Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus, Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus. _

She knew what it meant, since it was Hogwart's motto. It was Latin for, 'Let sleeping Dragons lie.'

As soon as James was done with it as well, he began to hand it over to Dumbledore when suddenly, it burst into flames.

"Well I hope you remember it. Like I said, no one will be allowed to know the password besides the Heads. Albus here was never a Head during his time at Hogwarts." Jovan chuckled, obviously at some internal joke, before going back to his stoic look while petting the great black cat.

Before any other odd happenings could occur, Dumbledore bid both James and Lily a farewell and left them to their own devices. As soon as he was out of earshot, James blurted out the password and the painting slid upwards, revealing a great red curtain. He moved past Lily and swept his hand across the fabric to witness his new living arrangements for the next year. 

It was obvious that the décor was made to reflect both of their personalities quite nicely, and since both Heads were from the same house this year, the colour scheme was easy enough to piece together. It had a very natural and engrossing warmth much like the Gryffindor common room, with gold and red banners draping from the ceilings. They both took notice of all the young faces looking down at them: portraits all over the walls.

"You think that those are the previous Heads?" James asked aloud, without really expecting an answer. He noticed Lily nod though, in agreement.

The room was octagonal shaped, and not much smaller than their old common room, which was surprising since the amount of students that would be occupying it would be considerably fewer. James had a feeling the room knew it would often have company since it was not nearly as large when he had last seen in (and obviously of different design).

On the left side of the room, there was a monstrous sized fireplace embedded within the left most wall, emanating a fierce and warm glow. Situated in front of it was a large sofa (able to seat at least four people) that seemed to be as soft as heavens clouds. On each side of it were two matching love seats looking equally as inviting.

The right side of the room harbored a desk ridden with quills and parchment, along with a queer looking box the size of Lily's 7th year potions text (she noted). A cupboard took up the last of the space on that side of the room, laden with engravings of names and quotes of, seemingly, previous owners. The most eye catching was the one curved along the top of the cupboard. It read:

_If The Time Ever Comes To Be; You Will Surely Escape If In Dire Need. _

"What do you suppose that means?" Lily turned to James, as she walked towards the magnificent wood, holding her hand out to trace her fingertips along the indented surface.

"I'd say to open it and find out, but I have a feeling we aren't in dire need." James replied, coming up behind her and reaching around to grab the door knob and swing it open. "Yet, I am in dire need of a sandwich. But alas," He added with a grin, "Only hangers and a rubbish bin." 

Lily grinned and walked away, now going towards the few doors left to be examined. The top three walls, directly across from the entrance to the room, all had doors. The middle one had two large, intricate looking doors, while the others were much simpler. Lily guessed the two smaller ones were the entrances to their dorms.

She went to move towards the door at the top left, and she noticed that James was bolting to the one on the right. But before she good get to the handle she heard a holler.

"Oi, Evans!" She turned her head and took a peak through the opened door he was standing beside. She could tell exactly what that room was without even second guessing.

A library.

It wasn't nearly as vast as the Hogwarts official one, but as Lily made her way into it and began to explore, she could tell it had material that was from the restricting section, surely forbidden for student's eyes. Her heart raced with curiosity and temptation, and she began to reach her hand towards a rather vile looking book before she got disturbed once again.

"Evans! Found your room. Gave me quite a shock when I tried to touch the door knob." Lily rolled her eyes and walked out of the library, vowing to spend most of the school year delving into magic's most profound secrets, before going to the other small door and noticing that it split into two short hallways.

She noticed James looking sheepishly back at her, nursing a swollen hand. He was standing in front of a door laden with a plaque sporting the name "Lily Evans." 

"Potter, I won't bother to ask how you managed to mistake this clearly named room with yours," She began, rolling her eyes and walking towards him. "But I advise you, for your own safety, to make your way to your room. The name "Big Headed Git" will help you find the place." Lily closed the distance between them and moved her hands to his shoulders to turn him around sharply and push him lightly towards the other hall.

Both Lily and James took this time now to separately appreciate their new private living space for the next and final year. And much like the rest of the common room, it was proven to be individually catered to each others styles and tastes.

Lily room mirrored her room at home almost exactly. Except the bed was a great deal larger, at least a queen. She wasn't sure since she hadn't ever really had to know mattress sizes. She had a large and dark wooden desk sitting across from her bed, and it held all her favourite books (both magical and muggle), along with tapes of her favourite bands, and fresh journals for her random spurts of creative writing or childish diary entries. She tired to not get weirded out a little about how much this room knew about her.

The walls were a pale blue, and they held prints of her favourite painters and even a few muggle actors. On her bedside dresser, she noticed her most cherished pictures of her family and friends. And there was the most important one of all: her mom and dad, each holding one of her hands and swinging her up in the air. She must have been only 5, but she looked so much like the young woman looking down at the photo.

She always loved magical photo's and the lively hood that it brought to the captured moment, but this one picture (she always believed) was one still frame, and conveyed more emotion than any other one she had ever seen. She held the picture close to her chest and sighed a breath of relief and sadness after done mourning silently. She was ready to unpack her things.

She didn't notice a figure slowly slipping away back to his room, leaving her doorway.

James had loved his room. He could tell it was an exact replica of his personality. The walls were deep red, and his bedding mirrored his Gryffindor spirit. James was extremely proud of his house and the character traits expected of a Gryffindor, and even at home he exuded his pride all over his room through gold and red scarves, bed sheets, wall hangings, and even a rug.

He had a small desk and a book shelve. Not much occupied either of these things, obviously only there for future necessity for the school year. He did have two large bedside tables with many drawers in each. One had a lock on it, and he could see the little key shining from a slight and opened velvet box on top of one of the tables. Right away he knew that it was there for him to hide the Marauders' Map or his Invisibility Cloak. Not to mention any other illegals. James also noted the abundance amount of drawers must be for all his other Zonko products and items that couldn't just lay around.

Like Lily's room, his walls were home to photos, yet his were quite different. Besides two posters of his favourite Quidditch team, they were all larger pictures of him and his family and friends. There were at least two dozen moving faces littering his walls, waving at him – blowing kisses – ruffling his hair – laughing boisterously – and even doing quite some crude jesters. James found this quite humourous and inviting.

He absolutely loved the way his room mirrored his personality, and that made his curiosity get the better of him. He wanted to know what Lily's room would look like. It would be interesting to see how she reflected herself in material form. So that's what led James into going over to Lily's room and peaking through her doorway, only to find her cradling a picture to her chest and looking so broken it caught his breath.

**Okay so there you go. Sorry it took so long. Many things have been happening. But I hope people are still interested in this story?**


	3. Start From the Beginning

**I have an important deal to make! So don't skip over this if you want another chapter tomorrow. I make a promise, a vow if you will, that if I get reviews this chapter (since I see the hit count go up but no one reviewing) that I will update this story by tomorrow! If I continue to get this support, I may just get into a habit of updating every day (save a few if something unexpected comes up). So lets see guys, I challenge you to make me keep to my word and have another chapter out by tomorrow.**

Start From the Beginning

Lily was very much in a calm and Zen like state this evening, with no interruptions from an annoying boy with permanent bed head. Once she finished unpacking her room, she made her way back to the main room to explore the library. Before she actually made it to her haven though, she noticed the two large double doors that she had forgotten to open when they had first arrived.

She didn't think it was possible to have something even more perfect then her room or a personal library, but there was. Of course, there was always something else that could top the most relaxing space she could possibly imagine. This was Hogwarts of course. And low and behold, behind those wooden doors was an intricately designed balcony, with enough room to sit at least six or seven people.

Lily took this opportunity to do what any 7th year witch would do on their first night back at Hogwarts.

She studied.

Yet, she was studying in style; suspended a good sixty feet in the air and a mug of hot coco at her side. She should have never gotten her hopes up for a drama free night.

"How do you manage it?" James slid through one of the doors unnoticed and crept up behind the un-expecting red head before starting his verbal attack.

Lily jumped quite suddenly and let out a little gasp whilst dropping her potions book and slapping her hand to her chest in shock. She heard him laugh and saw his figure come around from behind her and sit on the small wooden table adjacent to her, holding her cup of coco. He leant forward to pick up her book and she grabbed it swiftly before he could have any chance to be kind or helpful.

"Okay Potter, what witty comment do you have this time." Lily stated more than asked, sarcasm dripping from her lips. He winked before taking her drink and sipping it cautiously, making sure as to not burn himself. He winked at her again from above the mug.

"Well that's tone isn't going to get you anywhere Tiger Lily. But still my curiosity gets the better of me. So I ask: how do you manage it?" James finished his condescending semi rant. All the while, Lily attempted to just ignore and go back to her readings. Yet, like always, she found it increasingly hard not to be a little curious as to what he was going to say next. No matter how much it annoyed her to no end.

"Manage what Four Eyes?" She spat back, deciding that if she was going to further the conversation, she was at least going to play the same game he was.

He grimaced at the nick name she used. Obviously, it was one he didn't enjoy.

"How do you manage going around and pretending to be a modern day witch when really you're a homework doing, study going, goodie-two-shoes robot?" James leaned forwards pretending to give Lily a good once over, checking for any proof of his statement.

Surprisingly, Lily laughed in response. James looked taken aback and tried to hide his smile creeping to his lips. He couldn't help it. When she laughed, he felt like laughing too.

"Potter, go to bed and get some rest. I think you're game is lacking a little luster." Lily spoke after she finished giggling. She rolled her eyes and stood up, deciding against the studying for the next few hours, and took her own advice to get a good nights rest.

Yet James wasn't having any of it. He didn't want her to leave just yet. These were really the only times he got to spend much time with Lily alone.

"Cut me some slack Evans. After 6 solid years of picking on you, I think I should get a bit of credit for perseverance sake." James stood up and moved in front of her, quirking an eyebrow.

"Five years." Lily muttered.

"Excuse me?" James asked perplexed.

"It hasn't been six years. It's only been five. Remember? We were friends until second year. That's when you became an arse." Lily jabbed. Sometimes it hurt her feelings a bit remembering how close she was with James their first year, but then she remembered that he was young and innocent. Obviously, age was not kind to James Potter.

James mouth dropped as he noticed his slip up. He forgot why he started picking on Lily. Honestly, he didn't even remember much of their friendship in first year until now. Lily took this time to side step and head for her room, tired and ready to prepare herself for tomorrow. She wasn't upset or ashamed at what she said, since she expected James to know the reasons _why_ he changed.

Lily saw it quite simply, and she didn't take offence by it, or really take it personally at all. Girls flung themselves at James, even in first year.

Yet, a few months into second year, James had asked Lily if she'd like to study with him.

_Flashback_

_Sirius picked on him all day, asking him why he would even bother with reading the books when he knew James was aware of all the material, as was he. All through their classes, Sirius called him a geek and a bookworm, incessantly annoying the shite out of the young Potter._

Finally, during lunch, James bellowed out "Sirius! Shut up, I don't even need to study."

Lily had over heard and confronted James before their study date that night. He came clean.

"_I wanted to just be alone with you Lily – so I could maybe ask you if you wanted to be my girl friend." James confessed, rather confidently for a twelve year old. Yet, anyone could see (if a little older and wiser) that he was horribly nervous. And her response made everything go from weird to worse. _

_She laughed._

When she finally calmed down and noticed his hurt look, she simply said, "I don't want to date you James. I don't want to date anyone. Dating isn't important to me right now. I'm sorry."

As she turned around to walk away, James grabbed her arm to have her face him. "Do you still want to study?" He asked pleadingly, his eyes brimming with hope. 

"_James, you told Sirius you don't need to. What makes you suddenly need my help now?" She asked quizzically, raising an eyebrow and moving her arm out of his grasp. She gave him a serious look, trying to figure out what he was playing at. _

"_Nevermind Evans." James spat back, annoyed with the fact that she would ask that after obviously he just wanted to spend some time with her. It was the first time he used her last name to address her. And she was right in feeling it wouldn't be the last._

_End Flashback_

And Lily had whole heartedly believed James was just not used to getting rejected and took it very bitterly. After that, he had teased and picked on her whatever chance he could get. As she got older, it really made her believe that he never had any real feelings for her at all, and just wanted to date her cause he liked girls. Little did Lily know at the time; James would not take so well to rejection.

James, on the other hand, didn't remember this whole incident until Lily had mentioned it to him. Of course he remembered Lily rejecting him in second year, but he didn't think it started this whole war between the two of them. Especially since they got along when their friends were around for the most part. But when it came down to it, and he really thought about it, he couldn't remember a time in which he was mean to Lily before second year.

It was also no secret, especially to his friends, that he liked Lily Evans and had since he met her. Although, until fourth year he wouldn't admit it. Remus had this whole theory that what he was doing was like something called "the pigtail effect." He explained that it was when a guy liked a girl he would pull on her pigtails, pick on her, or bug her so she would give him attention and he'd stay on her radar. James thought this to be ridiculous, and denied all the accusations of his undying love for the redheaded muggle born.

But fourth year, when word got around that Aiden and Lily had a thing for each other, James got ridiculously jealous. He always liked Aiden, never had a real issue with the guy. Plus, he has known Remus for most of his life, thus making him accepted in James' books.

All that said, when he heard about the possible budding romance, James almost got in a fist fight in the middle of the hallways when Aiden complimented Lily's headband she was wearing.

James called him out on something different entirely of course, not to raise suspicions. Something along the lines of "knowing he was out to steal his chaser position."

_Flashback_

_Once his friends pulled him away from the potentially dangerous situation, Remus finally confronted James about his feelings for Lily. To anyone who knew James Potter well (which was only the Marauders really), it was obvious what was really making him angry. _

"_Prongs, if you don't deal with your bloody issues with Evans, I will accidentally bite you this coming full moon." Remus harshly whispered once they had gotten into the confides of an empty classroom. It was two days until his transformation, and he was always agitated around this time. Plus the fact that James was now threatening violence to someone he cared about, it wasn't boding well to his attitude._

"_I'm sorry Moony… I don't know what got into me." James said apologetically, looking at his feet and getting lost in his thoughts. _

"_Mate," Sirius began, going around to James side and throwing a heavy arm across his shoulders, "We know what got into you, and so do you. You just got to admit it to yourself." _

"_You can't go around pretending you don't like her." Peter added, giving him a sympathetic look. Peter was one of the guys who knew more what James was going through, since both Sirius and Remus hadn't experienced unrequited love yet. And honestly, James probably wouldn't have either if he didn't fall for Lily. Those three boys had enough charm and good looks to get pretty much any witch at Hogwarts. _

"_I like her." James signed, dropping his head in shame. He felt horrible for the way he had acted with Aiden, and was getting really irritated with himself. It was annoying not being able to control his own emotions, especially since he had been dealing with the same ones for four years. _

_All the guys knew there was really nothing they could say. James loved Lily, even though he probably didn't realize that yet, and Lily did not feel that way about James. There was always the potential for them to be friends again, but as long as James picked on her, no one saw that as a probability. _

_All the advice in the world couldn't fix their relationship. James had to get over the hurt and change. _

_But, when it came down to it, they were his friends, and they would try and make him feel better. Even if his actions didn't exactly make him deserve it. _

"_By the way you, Aiden and Lily are not interested in each other." Remus added before heading towards the door. Sirius noticed his friends face light up with joy and the final three went to follow Moony out of the classroom to finish the rest of the day. _

_End Flashback_

As James stood on the balcony, Lily long gone to bed, he finally realized what he had to do. He had to get over that hurt he had experienced five years prior. He had to heal his bruised ego and stop punishing Lily for something that was never her fault. He had to stop being the bugger that picked on and annoyed Lily throughout all hours of the day, because one way or another, he was never going to have her if he continued the path he was on. And this year was his final chance to win her heart.

James Potter had to change.

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

One week had past since the beginning of classes, and all the 7th years were sure feeling the pressure. Each class had advanced tenfold and everyone realized very quickly that this year was either make it or break it.

Well, everyone except a few Marauders with a bad habit of procrastination.

"It is unseasonably cool this September isn't it?" James asked over breakfast on Saturday morning. He was sitting with his usual group of three best friends, but also had a few girls join the group too. Lily, Estelle and Nessa sat across from the four boys. All three of them had their heads to their books, shoveling bits of food into their mouths every few minutes, concentrating intensely.

Sirius was essentially molesting his food, while Peter and Remus were quite concentrated on their studies as well.

"You know, they're calling for snow this weekend." James continued, trying to get everyone's attention. He was getting quite bored at being the only one taking part in the conversation, and frankly, talking to himself was not as riveting as Sirius made it seem like all those years.

"For Merlin's sake people!" James sudden outburst did what was certainly intended of it, and his friends heads shot up in unison. "It's Saturday! You can relax you know." James finished. Giving Remus and Peter a very disapproving glance. He was not happy with their "non-marauder' attitude. Sirius chose this moment to swallow his large portion of eggs he was chewing, and interject himself within the conversation.

"Isn't it a little early for snow?" He whined, getting a laugh from both Estelle and Ness. This caught Lily's attention.

She looked appalled. "How could you be in distress when hot coco by the fire and snow wizards are within our midst!"

The group began to smile and slowly people began to close their books and give their own opinion of the new controversial issue of the morning.

"Because the cold air makes my hair stand on end." Remus winked. Only a few people caught onto this joke.

"Well I'm with my Fire Lily with this one guys. Snowball fights and copious amounts of Butterbeer to warm us up are only a few of the treasures that await us." James laughed, smiling at Lily from across the table and giving Remus a raspberry.

"Copious, nice work Potter. And even though I enjoy those few benefits of the winter season, I'm content with the brisk and cool weather of fall. It doesn't include me smelling like a wet dog." Sirius growled in annoyance.

"Sirius, you always smell like a wet dog. Seriously. It's weird." Nessa laughed as she saw Sirius feign mock hurt. Remus, Peter and James shared a knowing look.

"Well, I believe I must settle this debate then, since we seem to be stuck at a stalemate." Estelle began. "Sirius and James. You each have 15 seconds to convince me. Sirius – shoot!"

Sirius was caught off guard by her sudden method in having the debate come to a conclusion, but soon enough, he began his rant.

"Winter is a nuisance. It brings snow. Snow is cold. Snow is wet. Wet is gross. Cold is cold. It brings ice. Ice is slippery. Ice is scary. I don't like ice. I don't like snow. It's also very hard to play Quidditch in the winter. Because there is snow. And cold. And the wind. The wind sucks. It's cold and hard. It's also scary, along with ice." He stood up dramatically, "So tell me, who wants to be cold, wet, and scared!"

The whole group burst out laughing before Estelle held up a hand to silence everyone. "James."

Before James stood, Lily quickly motioned James to lean over the table and whispered something in his ear. He smiled wide and laughed before opening his mouth and uttering one word.

"Christmas."

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

James had decided two days prior, that after breakfast on Saturday would be Quidditch tryouts.

Thus, the three girls hung back a little before making their way to the pitch, not wanting to gain much attention from the guys.

"Tell me why I'm doing this again?" Estelle asked her two best friends as they walked slowly farther away from the castle.

"Because you love Quidditch and you've only got one more year to make the team." Nessa stated matter-of-factly. Estelle groaned in annoyance at her insistent nerves.

"Don't worry about it to much Elle. You're great. You've been playing seeker for years with your brothers, so how much different is it then playing at Hogwarts?" Lily added graciously, trying to calm her friend down. Suddenly, a large figure came pushing between the girls and smacked right into Estelle.

"Are you really doing this?" Aiden asked his sister excitedly, grabbing hold of her arm and throwing it around his neck. He turned to Nessa and Lily and gave them an apologetic nod for intruding.

"Who told you?" Estelle asked nervously.

"Uh, you're walking towards the pitch on tryouts day. And even though you love me dearly, never since 3rd year have to come out to see if I make one of the chaser positions." He ruffled his sister's hair and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She whipped her face in mock-detest.

"Well… so what if I am?" She finally said, trying to hide her real feelings towards the whole idea of trying out in front of half the school.

"Ellie." Aiden began, using the name that only he could get away with. "You're an amazing seeker. There is no way you won't get the position." He gave her arm a reassuring pat.

"But if you don't, I can personally ruin Potter if you'd like?" He finished before giving her a quick soft punch to her arm and he took off towards the pitch full speed.

"I knew there was another reason for coming to tryouts besides to watch you beat yourself up." Nessa piped up, eyes slightly glassy. Lily followed her gaze.

"You are so giving Aiden a once over!" Lily accused, laughing. Estelle head suddenly shot around before she noticed the ashamed look on her friends face. She firmly put her fingers in her ears.

"I do not want to talk about my brother in that way." She said rather loudly, not being able to fully judge her own volume. Lily laughed louder and Nessa blushed a little harder before slapping Lily on the arm and giving Estelle the thumbs up so she could take her fingers out of her ears.

Once the girls got to the pitch, the tryouts began. Both Nessa and Lily found their way to the bleachers and sat down, ready to spend the next few hours supporting their best friend.

After the tryouts though, something happened that no one really expected, least of all Lily.

Sirius had hit the showers, along with Aiden and Estelle. She had told them that they could go back, but Nessa insisted she would wait. Lily did as well, but she had forgotten of her scheduled Prefect meeting.

She and James had not had much time to get together with all the Prefects for more then five minutes this week (where they handed out nightly rounds schedules for the week). But, much needed to be discussed and both of the Head's needed to make an impression and begin with showing that they could handle this position.

So Nessa stayed back to wait for Estelle, and Remus and Peter stayed back to wait for Sirius; thus leaving Lily Evans and James Potter to walk back to the castle alone.

"Thanks for the tip Evans." James laughed as he walked backwards in front of her, giving her one of his wide grins. "At breakfast I mean." He added, noticing her confused look.

"I did it for the sake of winter, and not your benefit Potter, so don't mistake my generosity as me liking you." He laughed again, trying to lighten the mood. He loved their banter, be it from him annoying her or not. Their banter is what made them Lily Evans and James Potter. But, he was going to try and make an impression that he was trying to be nicer to her.

"If you say so." James sidestepped and positioned himself beside Lily as they continued to walk towards the castle. "I have a good feeling about today." He added, as they continued the long walk. The pitch was in obvious site of Hogwart's castle, since it was so vast, but it was a good five ish minutes away from the Great Hall doors.

She kept up with his slow yet long stride by walking a little faster then him. She never realized how tall he actually was until now, as she raced his long legs.

"What do you mean?" Lily decided to humour him, and continue the conversation. She noticed the look in his face like one she saw in Remus often. Pensive and calm. She never noticed before, but she had a feeling James was less like Sirius but more like one of his other counterparts.

"I don't know, but when I woke up this morning, I thought I smelt snow."

She smiled, hoping he was right.

They walked silently for a little longer. This time, Lily decided to start the conversation.

"So," she piped up, catching his attention, "what's new with you. I know I've been busy with homework for the past few days and I expect you've been the same."

James shook his head and chuckled.

"Homework is your thing Lily. I do it last minute. I feel my intelligence excels the best when under pressure."

"You'd have to have intelligence Potter." He smirked and gave her a slight nudge with his shoulder. She looked back at him confused but smiled. This was nice… but weird.

"Reign it in Evans. It's only the first few minutes of us being alone." She rolled her eyes but prompted him to continue, "Besides the few pranks I've tried to stop my immature friends to pull," another roll of her eyes, "I haven't done too much. Although, I've been meaning to ask you something."

Lily noticed his change in tone, and stopped mid step at his serious demeanor. It wasn't normal for James to sound serious ever around Lily, unless they were yelling at each other.

"Will you go to Hogsmead with me next weekend?" She slapped him.

"I thought you had something serious to ask me!" He looked incredulous.

"I am serious. Jeez. Way to kick a guy when he's already been slapped." She tried not to laugh, but he had the most hilarious expression of childish hurt on his face. He actually was offended and pouting. Lily started walking again and he followed suit.

"Call it quits Potter. There are many more women here to objectify."

"Not to me." She almost lost her breath when he looked over to her and said it. He was so honest and real when he looked at her, letting her know that he was serious for once. She tried to ignore the stare and face forwards, focusing solely on the castle growing nearer.

And then, something began to fall on their heads.

"James? Are you a psychic?" Lily asked astonished. That's when he noticed that it was beginning to snow.

"No Lil," he began, putting out his hand to catch a few flakes on his glove. "I'm a wizard."

And he quickly gave her a half noogie before running off laughing. She rolled her eyes and followed after him, yelling mild obscenities and forgetting about the tension present only a minute prior.

**So yah, if you happened to read my old story A Not So Harmless Deal – you'll notice some recycled material. I am planning to do that quite a bit, since I really liked some of my scenes between James and Lily and wanted to make sure they didn't go to waste once I deleted my old story.**

Anyway, thanks everyone!


	4. Say My Name

**I got some reviews, and since I'm a woman of my word, here's the next chapter. I hope you all will continue to bless me with your opinions of my story and where it is heading. I really want to finish this as a full length story (around 100,000 words at least), so I'm hoping I get enough feedback to keep me motivated.**

Thank you all, once again.

Say My Name

Lily was sitting upright, at the head of the table. Beside her was her partner, James Potter. They both motioned for the chatter to cease before beginning the meeting.

"Well, isn't this bloody spectacular." Severus Snape muttered under his breath to the other, obviously Slytherin, Prefect sitting beside him. She shook her head in annoyance as her response. James couldn't help but smile.

"What's that Snivillus?" He jeered, gaining a few laughs from mostly the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. Lily gave him a disapproving look though, so he quickly changed his demeanor from aggressive to assertive.

"Well, now that we have all of your undivided attention, I believe it's a good time to begin our first meeting of the year." Some people politely clapped, while others groaned and the impassive stayed silent.

"Come on everyone! Why do you bother being Prefects if you don't enjoy the job?" James questioned with a laugh, gaining a few smiles from the girls.

"Good for getting a job and preparing us for the responsibilities required to succeed beyond the walls of Hogwarts." Amelia Bones piped up. She blushed when she noticed it was most likely a rhetorical question. Snape rolled his eyes at the annoying Hufflepuff but Lily quickly intervened before the girl got any more embarrassed.

"Well you are right, which is why each and every one of you is expected to take this position extremely seriously. If you have done this before, you know what it entails. But if this is your first time undertaking these responsibilities; I must warn you it is no small task."

"Well, I skipped a few steps then didn't I." James said under his breath, but loud enough for a few people to hear that sat close to him. Remus chuckled at his distress. Lily gave James another look and he straightened his back to continue with his part of the meeting.

"But don't get too bummed. Some of the stuff we get to do will be downright enjoyable, and as long as you have a good attitude you can make anything a little more fun. Let's say nightly rounds. If you get caught out after hours any other night—"

"Potter!" Lily quickly snapped, stopping James dead in his tracks again. He was going to have to get used to behaving.

"Obviously you should ignore him, since most of you probably don't even know how he could manage this position in the first place." She added, gaining some approval from the group. James pouted in his defense. "But let's get down to the important stuff."

"Oh I can do this!" James interrupted. "So back to nightly rounds. You each will be doing these the same way you had been in the past week, with your partner. We are going to change up the routines on a weekly basis though, so the students don't get used to a regular schedule and path. It can make it a lot easier to sneak out of the castle if you don't do this. Take it from someone who knows." He looked over to his best friend sitting a few seats down from him. "Well knowing someone on the inside does help as well."

Lily rolled her eyes and sighed once again, but let it go this time. He obviously wasn't going to be able to keep from joking the whole meeting. Instead, she took it upon herself to continue with the next set of rules.

"You are not to take house points off any other Prefects or students of another other house but your own. This is enforced to make sure there is no bias or spiteful behavior. Yet, that doesn't mean Potter and I can't do these things. Also, you are allowed to give out detentions, but I will not tolerate that as a whimsical excuse for punishment. I want a written report of why and when each detention will be scheduled, and you better make sure it is legitimate. If it becomes common that people are not using these duties accordingly, you will be demoted and other punishments may be carried out."

"Reminds me of McGonagall, this one." One of the younger Ravenclaws whispered to their friend. James tried to hide a smile while Lily glared in annoyance.

"Oh, this one is good. For any of you who don't know this already, Prefects and Quidditch Captains have a private bathroom. It is located on the fifth floor and at the fourth door to the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered. The password this year is – uhh –"

"Hot Spings." Lily finished James thought for him.

The meeting continued on, with the do's and don'ts that everyone continued to listen to in somewhat of a lull. James and Lily took turns explaining as much as they could before they had to get to the duties that were coming up in the near future of the school year.

"So now you know what you've got to do, we can get into what you can do." James began. "There are quite a few Holidays: Halloween, Christmas, New Years, Easter, and other minor changes. Like the seasons, from fall to winter to spring to summer. Most of you already know that it's the Prefects and the Heads, with help from the elves, that do the decoration for these occasions. It's purely voluntary though."

"We also have to deal with petitions and ideas of our respective houses. Remember four years ago when we were able to have a Halloween Ball? Well that only happens if the Prefects listen to the students, and are able to get them to create some kind of presentation that we can perform for our Heads of Houses to convince them of those kind of events. So be proactive if you want to have a fun year, and spark interests in your fellow classmates. Each house has a respective cork board for things of this nature."

The Prefects continued to listen with respect. The majority of them had heard this speech before, just paraphrased. Well, that was until Lily decided to finish the meeting on a different topic.

"Besides all of this…" Lily started, trying to change her tone to warn the students that a more serious topic was about to be raised. "We do have the issue that has increased exponentially since our last year here. You-Know-Who and the Death Eater's attempt to gain more power throughout the wizarding world."

Harsh whispers began with the majority of the students, save a few, like Severus and the other Slytherins. It wasn't common for people from Hogwarts to talk so freely of the coming war. People talked, of course, but not in any kind of informative or authoritative manner. It was all gossip and worry.

James decided it was his turn to gain the attention of the group now. "I know the growing fear of Volde—" He noticed the fear in most of the Prefects eyes when he began to speak his name, and the malice among a few others, "You-Know-Who and his followers. And that is the exact issue Hogwarts is dealing with now. A divide has become more and more apparent within our halls, and our houses. Dumbledore and the Heads of House are showing concern with this, and they want us to take on the task this year of trying to fix our relations within the school."

"If anyone has any ideas or is extremely adamant in supporting the unification of our school, you can speak now or let us know the next meeting." Lily finished. They both waited to see if anyone was to speak up. Soon, James noticed a familiar voice ringing strong.

"I think it is entirely too important of a matter for any of us to let be swept under the rug, therefore I will make a conscious effort to come up with ideas and support to help our school keep strong during these rough times." Remus was speaking with confidence and looking intensely at each Prefect. He could tell that they were nervous to speak about such a controversial and utterly terrifying subject. But finally, someone spoke up.

"I think we should create a support group for students who have lost love ones to the war." Amelia Bones declared. Her voice held a sense of authority and strength. James was taken aback by the sudden change in personality.

"I think that's a great idea." Lily said solemnly, giving the Hufflepuff a very warm smile.

They all sat there for a few more minutes, giving anyone the opportunity to speak up. When no one did, James took it as a sign to wrap up the meeting. He could tell the mood had changed significantly, and the majority of the group was a little jumpy from the topic of conversation.

"Well, that's all we are going to discuss this meeting. See you next week." He quickly dismissed.

"And don't forget to hand in any paperwork to either of us. You can always find James in the Great Hall during any meal." Lily joked, trying to lighten the mood. It worked somewhat.

"Yah, and she's usually in the library with her nose glued to a book." James poked back. This gained a few laughs as the Prefects collected their books and notes to finally try and enjoy the rest of their Saturday.

Xoxoxoxoxox

It was lunch time, and the usual group was sitting together and chatting casually.

"I can't believe Margret and her beating skills. I swear that woman could take out a troll with one of those bats." Sirius let out between mouthfuls of chicken pot pie. "Prongs, you better choose that one. I really need someone with that kind of talent with me this year. Ever since Rufus left last year, I have been terrified of being stuck with that prat Marcus."

James laughed at his friends rant.

"We all know the only reason you want it to be Margret is so you can have more time to spend with her." Aiden added. "You couldn't stop talking about her in the showers."

Sirius glared at him and turned his attention back to James, "In all seriousness, she is really a brilliant Quidditch player."

"You know I still haven't chosen my team Padfoot." Sirius pouted at James' response. "But – I do have a good feeling about that dark haired raven." He added quietly, giving his friend a quick pat on the back.

"You better not ask her out until after she gets picked Sirius, she may think you used your sway with the Captain to cheat her on the team. Girls don't like thinking they didn't earn their spot. Especially with sports." Remus added wisely.

"Can we stop talking about Quidditch!" Estelle groaned. Her brother gave her a pitying look before going back to his food. This caught Sirius' attention.

"Why so wound up seeker?" He pried, winking at her while giving her a half smirk.

"Don't even call me that. We all know I blew the tryouts." She muttered into her scarf around her neck. Aiden gave Sirius a disapproving look.

"You did not! You did the best out of all the seekers trying out." Lily injected, looking curiously over at James. "Didn't she?"

"Blimey! You can't put me on the spot like that." James confessed. "She did great, but we do have an exceptional seeker as is and they were really close in time." He said honestly, trying to ignore Lily's glare.

Remus gave James a warning look, letting him know he should back off. He took the hint and became quite interested in his treacle pudding.

"Well can't she come to the second tryouts tomorrow morning and give it another shot?" Nessa added.

"No she can't." Sirius stated matter-of-factly. "That's not how it works, and that's not fair."

Aiden glared even harder this time, and Sirius stuck out his tongue.

"Bloody hell!" James exclaimed. "Estelle, you did great and if you are only second to the seeker, you get a chance to battle them one on one for the position okay? So can everyone get off my back?"

"Well there you go Ellie, there's no way you aren't at least second." Aiden joked with his sister, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

Estelle smiled a bit and noticeably lightened up. Everyone continued to eat with minor amounts of small talk. That was, of course, until the Marauders brought up their next important issue.

"So tonight? Commons room or your place Mr. Head Boy?" Sirius gave Remus a nudge to involve himself in the conversation.

"Yah Prongs, we haven't really planned too much of the night have we?"

"Remus, what are you guys talking about? Something to do with our Heads common room?" Lily asked. She overheard the conversation and became curious to what they were planning.

"It's nothing!" Peter piped up, interrupting Remus' _almost_ confession. He usually told Lily anything when she asked, without thinking. They had some weird level of respect for each other, spending the previous two years together as Prefects for Gryffindor.

"Lily! It's their annual back to Hogwarts party." Estelle chimed in, but instantly regretted it when she noticed realization dawn on Lily's face.

"There is absolutely no chance in Hell that there will be any illegal party held in our commons room Potter!" She bellowed, ignoring the attention she was gaining from the students around her.

"Simmer down. I wasn't the one who offered our room. Of course I wouldn't do that." James sniped back, ignoring the glares from Sirius.

"So the Gryffindor's common room it is." Remus interjected, to cut the tension.

"What time?" Nessa asked, not paying any attention to Lily or James.

"Oh we aren't sure yet. That's what we needed to talk about. We haven't even smuggled the firewhiskey and butterbeer yet." Sirius answered. Lily's eyes drew wide.

"Smuggled!"

"Whoops."

"Sirius why would you say that?" Peter shook his head dumbfounded.

"Lily calm down." Estelle put her hand on her friends shoulder but she shrugged it off. "They do this every year, it's not big deal."

"I knew there was a party every year, I just never bothered attending. If I knew there was alcohol I would have busted it before it even got started." Lily continued, obviously getting angrier as people continued to defend it. "What about the minors? And you!" She pointed a finger sharply to Remus' chest.

"Evan's chill the bloody hell out. You're being a right prat right now." James finally growled. "If you don't want to be there you don't have to be. If you want to put a stop to it, then do it. But no one wants to hear you lecturing us."

Lily's mouth fell open and her cheeks began to grow hot after James had finished. She knew he was right, they were young and bound to break a few rules and have a little fun. She just never did well with either of those things. Well at least not the breaking rules part. She took pride in following the laws that were enforced within Hogwarts.

"I'm sorry." She announced, somewhat under her breath.

"Wow, Fire Lily is sorry for being a responsible Head Girl." Sirius laughed, gaining a smile of approval from Lily. At least she didn't sound as unreasonable when Sirius put it that way.

"So does that mean you're coming?" Estelle asked excitedly.

Lily thought about it for a moment. She did say this summer that she wanted to make a few changes this year. It wasn't like she wasn't popular. Actually, she was quite the opposite. Many people have gone out of their way to talk to her, from most of the houses, and guys have shown interest in dating her. She has had quite a few dates to Hogsmead, and she has sat with a multitude of girls and guys for feasts.

But she had never been to a party. Or drank underage. Or got caught snogging in a broom closet. Or played a harmless prank on a friend.

She knew how to have fun, just not that _kind_ of fun. But she realized the past summer, when she was writing to both of her friends, that she was kind of bored with the same old thing. Lily really wanted to remember this year since it was her last here at Hogwarts. She was of age, Prefect of two years, Head Girl of Hogwarts, O average student, and a mature witch. Why not have a little fun?

"Why not." Lily finally said, after she deduced that it was completely harmless.

"Well for starters, you're Lily Evans. And secondly, well you are Lily Evans. Thirdly—"

"Okay Sirius, I get it. I'm Lily Evans." Lily cut Sirius off before he continued his unfair judgement.

"I was actually going to say, you're too pretty to party with us toerags. But obviously you aren't that creative." He quipped, giving Lily one more wink before going back into finishing his lunch. James smiled to himself as he noticed Lily begin to laugh a little.

"We've finally done it. We've finally corrupted Lily!" Nessa laughed, giving her friend a hug.

"I wouldn't say she's _corrupt_ just yet. We've got to get some of the illegals in her before that could be said." Aiden joked. "And then we need to find a nice boy to get her to dance." He winked at her as he finished his sentence.

Lily blushed.

Remus noticed James' change from excited to angry in a flash, so he quickly gave his friend a light punch and got his attention back to regaining his composure.

"It's no good getting jealous. You guys seem to be becoming friends again." Remus whispered to James so only he could hear. James nodded curtly and tried to put on a half smile, but he couldn't get the jealousy out of his eyes. He watched Aiden now flirt obviously with Lily and hoped that he could stop that from happening tonight.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

"I'm so glad we can get ready in your private room this year! I love Alice, but she takes hour long showers and there just isn't enough time to get all four of us done in our dorm." Nessa said excitedly, coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head. "Plus, your shower is awesome!"

Lily laughed as she continued to use charms to curl her hair. She had decided to shower before her friends came over to get ready, so as not to make them late to the Marauder's Back to Hogwarts party.

"Are you sure you don't want to borrow some of my clothes Lily?" Estelle asked, looking through the three outfits Lily had lain out on her bed. They were all nice, but really casual clothes.

"You know there is no way I could fit in your clothes. You are a little bigger in certain areas then I am." Lily noted. Estelle knew she meant her chest and arse, but she feigned mock hurt all the same.

"Well, I'm not as blessed as Estelle, so you could wear some stuff of mine. I brought like eight possible outfits." Nessa joined in, "Plus I think I want to wear this one anyway."

Nessa did a quick spin. She was wearing very tight jeans that had grey leg warmers at the bottom. She also had a cute pair of boots without a heal and a long sleeved white shirt, see-through, over top of a black tank top. Her hair was already dried and it hung like it usually did: long and curly. Like always, she had some kind of hair accessory. This time, it was a grey lacy headband.

"Who are you trying to impress?" Estelle whistled low as she fanned herself in a joking manner.

"Well, I've had my eyes set on a few Gryffindor hotties."

"And who might they be?" Lily questioned, giving her a thumbs up.

"Joshua Wrightly was looking exceptionally good in his keeper threads this morning."

"Joshua? I thought you had a thing for Aiden this morning too?" Lily teased. "What is with you and Quidditch boys."

"Ew, not my brother again."

"No don't worry. I was just appreciating how he has grown up quite nice. Besides, I'm pretty sure he has a crush on Lily."

"What?" Both girls yelled in unison.

"Seriously, you guys couldn't tell? He was flirting with you this afternoon at lunch."

Estelle looked at her shoes for a minute, contemplating something.

"He was not!" Lily exclaimed, rather embarrassed at the accusation.

"Just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it isn't obvious to everyone else." Nessa concluded. She turned around and went back to the bathroom.

"You know…" Estelle began, once Nessa had retreated fully. "It makes sense."

Lily had finished with her hair, and was now onto the little makeup she was going to apply. A bit of blush, and some mascara. She was contemplating some eyeliner for the bottom of her eyes when she got distracted by Estelle's ominous statement.

"What makes sense?"

"That Aiden likes you. I've always wondered why he always bugged me over the summer to tell him what you're doing. And he always got angry when I talked about how you and James would make a cute couple."

"Ew, jeez what is with people and their obsession with me and Potter becoming partners?" Estelle shrugged her shoulders at Lily's question. "Wait hold on – you said you think your brother likes me? Aiden?"

"Well, now that Ness said it, it seems to make complete sense. I think I just ignored it cause I don't see my brother like that."

Lily sat dumbfounded for a minute. That was, until Nessa came strutting out of the bathroom.

"Okay, well now that you believe me, can we get her into something other then things she would wear to her Grandmothers Christmas dinner."

Lily took it upon herself to defend her clothes but let both the girls know that she wasn't going to dress up like a hooker, so if they chose an acceptable outfit for a party then she would wear it.

So she ended up in something quite simple, yet flattering.

"Wow! You look great Lils." Estelle exclaimed as Lily walked out of the bathroom. They had all finally decided on an outfit for the night.

Lily had a pair of shoes on of Estelles. They were boots as well (all girls decided on this since Estelle had warned them that last year people had snuck outside mid party, and since it snowed earlier that day, they may want some warmer footwear). Yet Lily's boot had a very small and thick heal. She was wearing pants as well, a dark blue jean. They were very fitted, but not as tight as Nessa's. She fought them against a dress or mini skirt. Up top, she was wearing a simple black turtle neck, but what made it stand out the most was the way it hugged her hips and chest. It made her look more curvaceous then it actually was. Her hair was filled with bouncing curls, and her accessories were nothing more then a gold bracelet and gold dangling earrings.

Both girls walked with Lily to the full length mirror and laughed at her response.

"My breasts look huge!"

"You ready to break some hearts then?" Nessa asked, giving her a wink before turning around and grabbing her lip-gloss off the bed.

Lily laughed, brimming with confidence and giddy with excitement. "Sure, why not."

"If Sirius was here – he'd say…"

"Because you're Lily Evans." Estelle finished Nessa's sentence.

**Okay well I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter will include the party! Woot woot. **


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